United NationsHRI/MC/1998/6International Human Rights Instruments
Distr.: General
3 September 1998
Original: English

Tenth meeting of persons chairing human rights treaty bodies

Geneva, 14-18 September 1998

Integrating the gender perspective into the work of
United Nations human rights treaty bodies

Report by the Secretary-General

Contents

Paragraphs

Page

I. Introduction

1-3

3

II. Background and context

4-25

3

A. Human rights of women and gender in the context of United
Nations conferences and their follow-up

4-13

3

1. The equal status and human rights of women

5-6

3

2. Mainstreaming a gender perspective

7-9

4

3. The rights-based approach

10-13

4

B. Reform of the human rights treaty system

14-15

4

C. Clarification of concepts

16-25

5

1. Gender and international human rights law

16-19

5

2. A dual strategy: a women-specific and a gender approach in
international human rights law

20-25

5

III. Steps already taken by human rights treaty bodies

26-96

6

A. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

28-42

6

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

30-31

6

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding observations

32-38

7

3. General recommendations

39

8

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women

40

8

5. Early warning procedure

41

8

6. Next steps for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination

42

8

B. Committee against Torture

43-56

9

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

45

9

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

46-50

9

3. General recommendations

51

9

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women

52

9

5. The Committee's
inquiry procedure

53

10

6. Next steps for the Committee against Torture

54-56

10

C. Human Rights Committee

57-71

10

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

58

11

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

59-65

11

3. General comments

66-67

12

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women

68

12

5. Next steps for the Human Rights Committee

69-71

13

D. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

72-88

13

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

73-75

13

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding observations

76-79

14

3. General comments

80-83

15

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women

84-85

15

5. Next steps for the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights

86-88

15

E. Committee on the Rights of the Child

89-96

16

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

90

16

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

91-93

16

3. General comments

94

17

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women

95

17

5. Next steps for the Committee on the Rights of the Child

96

17

IV. Conclusions

97-101

17

V. Recommendations for further action

102--117

18

I. Introduction

1. During their eighth meeting, held at Geneva from 15 to 19
September 1997, the persons chairing the United Nations human rights treaty bodies invited
the Division for the Advancement of Women to prepare a background paper analysing the
measures that have been and should be taken by the treaty bodies in order to integrate
gender perspectives into their work.1 The General Assembly, in resolution
52/118 of 12 December 1997, endorsed the request for the study, to be used by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the human rights treaty bodies as a guide
to incorporating gender perspectives into their work. The Commission on Human Rights, in
its resolution 1998/27 of 17 April 1998, also welcomed the proposed study. The present
report has been prepared in response to these requests.

2. The report consists of two main parts. The first, on background and
context, sets the context within which attention to gender by the human rights treaty
bodies is to be considered. To that end, recent developments within the United Nations
system to increase attention to the human rights of women and the gender dimensions of
human rights are reviewed. Conceptual aspects of the protection and promotion of human
rights from a gender perspective are also examined in this part of the report.

3. The second main part, on steps already taken by human rights treaty
bodies, seeks to assess progress made by the human rights treaty bodies in monitoring
women's enjoyment of human rights
within the framework of the respective treaties. In the context of trends elsewhere in the
United Nations system, the analysis assesses to what degree treaty bodies have recognized
that gender is an important dimension in defining the substantive content of human rights
and impacts on the enjoyment of rights by women. To that end, the second part of the
report summarizes steps taken by human rights treaty bodies to increase attention to
gender aspects in their work. Based on the treaty bodies' review of States parties'
reports since 1993, as reflected in summary records, concluding comments and general
comments/recommendations, this part analyses how gender considerations are shaping the
work of treaty bodies. For each of the treaty bodies, suggestions are made and areas are
identified where further efforts are required. The report concludes with recommendations
for action by various actors, primarily by the treaty bodies themselves, to increase
attention to the gender dimension in the realization of human rights for all.

II. Background and context

A. Human rights of women and gender in the context of United Nations conferences
and their follow-up

4. Three interlinked and mutually reinforcing trends have emanated
from recent global United Nations conferences that are of particular relevance for the
present study:

(a) Attention to the equal status and human rights of women in general
human rights activities has expanded significantly since the World Conference on Human
Rights held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993;

(b) Recognition of the impact of women's gender roles on the
achievement of women's equality, including the full enjoyment of
their human rights, is increasingly shaping the development and implementation of policies
and programmes in all sectoral areas in which the United Nations has a mandate;

(c) A growing trend among entities of the United Nations system to
emphasize a human rights or rights-based approach to planning and programming.

1. The equal status and human rights of women

5. The World Conference on Human Rights fully articulated the need
to integrate the human rights of women into the work of human rights treaty bodies,
stating that:

"Treaty monitoring bodies should include the status of women and
the human rights of women in their deliberations and findings, making use of
gender-specific data. States should be encouraged to supply information on the situation
of women de jure and de facto in their reports. ... Steps should also be taken ...
to ensure that the human rights activities of the United Nations regularly address
violations of women's human rights, including gender-specific abuses".2

6. Since their fifth meeting in September 1994, in follow-up to a
recommendation by the Commission on the Status of Women,3 the integration of a
gender perspective in the work of the treaty bodies has been a regular theme of the
meetings of the chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies. The chairpersons have
stated their support for the relevant recommendations contained in the Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action and have proposed a number of recommendations for action by each
treaty body in order to effectively integrate gender considerations into their work
practices. The chairpersons' discussion at their eighth meeting in 1997 focused on the
reform of the treaty system and also included discussion of gender perspectives.4

2. Mainstreaming a gender perspective

7. In the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at
the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995,
Governments committed themselves to the promotion of an active and visible policy of
mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes, including with regard
to human rights of women.5 The Platform also emphasized that the goal of full
realization of human rights for all required explicit attention to the systematic and
systemic nature of discrimination against women in the application of international human
rights instruments.6

8. Since the convening of the Vienna and Beijing conferences, steps to
integrate a gender perspective within the United Nations human rights framework have been
taken in various forums. The General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council have
given detailed guidance with regard to the principles and practical implications of the
gender approach. Most notably, the Economic and Social Council adopted agreed conclusions
1997/2 on "Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the
United Nations system".7
These provided a definition of the concept of gender mainstreaming,8 a set of
principles and specific recommendations for action by intergovernmental machinery and at
the institutional level.9 Agreed conclusions 1997/2 also make repeated
reference to the need to mainstream a gender perspective systematically in areas including
human rights.10

9. In its review of the critical area of concern "human rights of women", the Commission on the Status of
Women, at its forty-second session, recognized the central role of human rights treaty
bodies in strengthening enjoyment of human rights by women. It therefore invited treaty
bodies, within their mandates, "to continue to monitor a better understanding of the
rights contained in international human rights instruments and their particular
significance to women". The Commission on
Human Rights has decided to reflect a gender perspective under all its agenda items while
also including a standing item on integration of human rights of women and a gender
perspective.11

3. The rights-based approach

10. In July 1995, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and
the (then) Centre for Human Rights organized an expert group meeting in Geneva on the
development of guidelines for the integration of a gender perspective into United Nations
human rights activities and programmes.12

11. In 1996, the United Nations Population Fund, in collaboration
with the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, organized a round table on "Human Rights Approaches to Women's Health, with a focus on Reproductive and
Sexual Health Rights". Experts
from all of the human rights treaty bodies attended the meeting, as did representatives of
the United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, as well as other experts and
observers. It was the first time that a group of this nature had met to discuss the
interpretation of women's rights
relating to a particular theme. The meeting formulated 32 recommendations for improving
women's health rights, several of which
focused directly upon measures to be taken by the human rights treaty bodies.13

12. The United Nations Population Fund/Division for the Advancement of
Women/Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights round table on human
rights approaches to women's health is indicative of the growing trend among entities of
the United Nations system to emphasize a human rights C or rights-based C approach to planning and programming.14 This
trend was also apparent in a special discussion of senior United Nations officials at the
coordination segment on "follow-up
to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action", held by the Economic and Social
Council in July 1998.15

13. In response to the increased emphasis on human rights throughout
the United Nations system, and recognizing that women's enjoyment of human rights is conditioned by their gender roles, the
Administrative Committee on Coordination Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender
Equality is convening a workshop to clarify the understanding and practical implications
of a rights-based approach to women's
empowerment and advancement. It will provide a forum for exchanging experiences and
examining ways to merge protection and promotion of human rights and the realization of
gender equality at the programmatic and policy level.16

B. Reform of the human rights treaty system

14. Over the past decade the human rights treaty system has
undergone critical review and discussion about reform is continuing. The reports of the
independent expert appointed to identify measures for improving the effective functioning
of the human rights treaty system, submitted in 1988, 1993 and 1997,17 have
been the basis for extensive discussions, including by the individual treaty bodies and
the meeting of the chairpersons.18

15. This climate of review and reform affords a valuable
opportunity for the United Nations human rights treaty bodies to ensure that any reform
measure, whether it is of a procedural or a substantive nature, proceeds from an approach
that is sensitive to the gender implications of human rights. The understanding of
international human rights law is shaped by the treaty bodies both through
norm-interpretation and assessment of compliance of States parties with convention
obligations. The challenge is thus to develop approaches to norm-interpretation and
monitoring consistent with the objectives of each of the human rights treaties and which
increase attention to the gender dimensions of these objectives.19

C. Clarification of concepts

1. Gender and international human rights law20

16. The term "gender"
refers to the socially constructed roles of women and men that are ascribed to them on the
basis of their sex, in public and in private life. The term "sex" refers to the biological and physical characteristics of women and
men. Gender roles are contingent on a particular socio-economic, political and cultural
context and are affected by other factors, including age, race, class and ethnicity.
Gender roles are learned and vary widely within and between cultures. As social
constructs, they can change. Gender roles shape women's access to rights, resources and opportunities.21

17. Both the Vienna and the Beijing conferences and other recent United
Nations conferences have contributed to the understanding that women's equality and non-discrimination between
women and men, as well as women's equal
enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, do not occur automatically as a result
of the overall protection and promotion of human rights. They have thus strengthened an
approach whereby these goals are to be addressed explicitly and systematically at all
stages of the implementation of human rights instruments, including in the
conceptualization of the protected rights and freedoms.

18. Mainstream human rights approaches have long been based on the
presumption that human rights norms are gender neutral or unaffected by gender. However,
structural imbalances of power between women and men, the systemic nature of
discrimination against women and the general absence of women in law creation and
implementation processes continue to reflect disproportionately the experiences of men and
exclude the experiences of women. These imbalances also influence the generally accepted
understanding of international human rights law whose structure and substance may present
or preserve obstacles to women's equality. Many of the substantive norms of international
law are defined in relation to men's experience and stated in terms of discrete violations
of rights in the public realm. In addition, inattention to rights of particular interest
to women in international human rights law and practice has resulted in neglect and
pervasive denial of the rights of women, in particular in the private sphere. These
factors have contributed to a lack of enjoyment of human rights by women that, at its
roots, has gender-specific explanations.

19. A focus on gender recognizes that women's unequal status is based on and is
perpetuated by structures of systemic inequality and discrimination against women. The
standard of measurement in the realization of women's equality is not the current male standard of equality, which would
simply be a reaffirmation of the status quo. Rather, a new standard of equality should be
envisaged based on a reconsideration of current assumptions and a reconceptualization of
the meaning of equality from a gender perspective. This standard would reflect the
visions, interests and needs of women, as well as those of men.

2. A dual strategy: a women-specific and a gender approach in international human
rights law

20. Calls for attention to women's human rights by mainstream human rights mechanisms have led to the
question of how to divide C or share C responsibility for women's human rights between these mechanisms, on
the one hand, and women-specific mechanisms (i.e. the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women) on the other. The independent expert addressed the question
of the capacity of the treaty system to address specific themes, including the rights of
women. He considered that an approach which incorporates gender-specific information and
analysis into the implementation of all human rights instruments would unquestionably be
correct. Greater coordination efforts among the treaty bodies on specific themes, and the
development of clearer proposals as to what ought to be done by which body have been
suggested.22

21. Integrating a gender perspective into the work of the
mainstream human rights mechanisms raises conceptual, as well as institutional issues.
Conceptually, a gender perspective of human rights requires more than recognition of women's experience of violations which are
identical to those suffered by men; more than attention to discrimination against women in
the enjoyment of rights protected in mainstream human rights instruments; and more than
attention to specific issues of relevance to women, such as violence against women or
women's reproductive function and
connected rights.

22. Integrating a gender perspective, or gender mainstreaming, is a
conceptual approach to rights/issues requiring that women's and men's socially constructed realities be addressed explicitly in the context
of each of the human rights conventions with a view to preventing, or at least reducing,
women's disadvantages.

23. In terms of institutions, the focus for integrating gender concerns
is the "mainstream", i.e. the processes and institutions
that currently shape the human rights discourse, rather than women-specific institutions,
such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

24. Mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, or
women-specific institutions and mechanisms, but complements them.23 A
women-specific approach starts from an issue of women's inequality. A specific policy, strategy or measure is then developed,
frequently by a women-specific machinery, to address the issue. The mainstreaming approach
broadens a general policy or strategy in any sector to take into account considerations of
gender with a view to achieving gender equality.24 In terms of human rights, it
requires an approach to rights and freedoms that accounts for gender-based differences.

25. A dual strategy C attention to women-specific issues by women-specific machinery, and a gender
approach by mainstream mechanisms C reinforces an understanding that gender equality must be addressed as a
strategic objective by society as a whole, rather than being a "women's concern", an
approach which focuses on women as a vulnerable group and on women's issues as marginal issues on the global
and national agenda.

III. Steps already taken by human rights treaty bodies

26. The five human rights treaty bodies reviewed in this
study have proceeded at a different pace in increasing attention to the status and human
rights of women and to gender factors. While each has developed its own working methods in
accordance with the objectives of its respective treaty, all use a similar approach to the
consideration of States parties' reports. This part of the report analyses, in five
sections, progress in regard to the amount of attention paid to gender issues through an
assessment of:

(a) Constructive dialogue and concluding comments/observations adopted
with regard to States parties' reports;

(b) General comments/recommendations adopted on particular articles or
issues.

27. Each section also reviews whether the recommendations of the
chairpersons with regard to gender have been followed up and assesses interaction between
the mainstream treaty bodies and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women. Areas are identified where each treaty body might consider taking further
steps. The analysis is based on the treaty bodies' work since 1993, that is, after the
adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, until early 1998.25
The report does not cover the work of treaty bodies under communications procedures.

A. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

28. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination makes no reference on its face to its applicability without distinction on
the basis of sex. However, as the Convention is grounded in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, its applicability to women and men is without doubt, and the Committee would
thus be justified in addressing the gender dimensions of the articles of the Convention.

29. The Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on
Women recognized the particular vulnerability of women belonging to groups specified in
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Women frequently
experience double discrimination because of their gender roles and intensified by other
aspects such as race, ethnicity or national origin. The Platform highlights women's vulnerability to multiple discrimination
in areas including education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, participation
in decision-making, the economy, and human rights.

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

30. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has
taken no decision to amend its reporting guidelines to accommodate gender considerations,
nor has it considered other specific steps to increase attention to the gender dimensions
of racial discrimination. In its discussion of the recommendation of the chairpersons' meeting that the committees consider amending their
reporting guidelines to reflect a gender perspective,26 some members of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination suggested that gender issues did not
fall within the Committee's mandate.
Some members, while expressing sympathy towards gender issues, were of the view that
gender perspectives could not be incorporated into their work until problems of overlap
with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women were resolved.
Others showed sensitivity to the intersectionality of discrimination on the basis of race
and sex. Views were expressed that the appropriate approach was to pass on any information
regarding sex discrimination to the relevant committee via a liaison officer. The
discussion revealed a certain degree of uncertainty over concepts such as "gender" and "gender-based", as well as "gender-disaggregated data".27

31. No steps were taken by the Committee following its discussion
on gender in 1996. The Committee's current guidelines do not request States parties to
disaggregate data and information by sex.

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding observations

32. A review of the Committee's work since mid-1993 shows that
among the main areas of concern raised by Committee members are legislative and
constitutional provisions, including the definition of "racial"
discrimination and "minority" groups;
discrimination against foreigners, especially foreign workers; conduct of law enforcement
officials and security forces in a series of specific situations; militarization of
society; situation of refugees and displaced persons; operation of the legal system;
discrimination in education, employment and with regard to access to health care;
treatment of children; statistics on demographic composition, collection of social
indicators and data disaggregated on the basis of ethnicity; specific forms of
discrimination such as caste systems, xenophobia; role of mass media; poverty; structural
discrimination and affirmative action; impact of economic policies such as structural
adjustment.

33. The Committee addressed concerns of women or gender issues in a
limited number (approximately 10 per cent) of concluding observations.28 These
cover the following areas:

(a) Treatment of foreign women working as domestic servants;

(b) Maternal health care;

(c) Marriage and family laws;

(d) Nationality laws;

(e) Impunity for violations of women's human rights;

(f) Education of girls;

(g) Exploitation of prostitution;

(h) Sexual violence, including rape, and deaths of women civilians
during armed conflict;

(i) Refugee women and asylum seekers.

34. On a number of occasions, the Committee has demonstrated in its
concluding observations an appreciation of the way in which gender and race/ethnicity
intersect. For example, in considering the report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland on its (then) dependent territory, Hong Kong,29 the
Committee noted with concern the operation of the "two week"
rule, pursuant to which foreign workers cannot remain in Hong Kong more than two weeks
after the expiration of their employment contract, thus leaving workers vulnerable to
abusive employers. The Committee identified female Filipino foreign domestic workers as
the most vulnerable group and noted that the rule "appears
to have discriminatory aspects under the terms of the Convention". The Committee also
examined the situation and treatment of foreign workers, in particular of women domestic
servants, in Kuwait (August 1993) and the United Arab Emirates (August 1995). In its
concluding observations with regard to Kuwait, the Committee expressed concern about the
treatment of "foreign domestic
servants", and recommended that
the State party take steps to guarantee the enjoyment by individuals belonging to
vulnerable groups of foreigners, including foreign domestic servants, of the rights
enshrined in the Convention.30 In its review of the report of the United Arab
Emirates in 1995, the Committee identified the allegations of ill-treatment of foreign
workers, including women domestic servants of foreign origin, as a principal subject of
concern, and recommended that the State party "show
the utmost diligence in preventing acts of ill-treatment being committed against foreign
workers, especially foreign women domestic servants, and take all appropriate measures to
ensure that they are not subjected to any racial discrimination".31

35. These observations indicate that in the States parties
concerned, the Committee clearly identified the two overlapping elements contributing to
the discrimination identified. The fact that they were women meant that the workers were
more likely to be employed in domestic service. The fact that they were foreign domestic
workers made them particularly vulnerable to abuse.

36. In considering the report of the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia,32 the Committee expressed concern over the low levels of
participation of Albanian girls in rural areas in secondary and higher education. In so
doing, the Committee identified several factors leading to the discrimination, namely
nationality and location in rural areas, in conjunction with gender.

37. In several concluding observations, the Committee addressed the
persistence of dual legal systems in the area of personal status law such as marriage,
inheritance and succession.33 While the Committee noted that this "can lead to unequal treatment between
Blacks and Whites", or cause "serious discrepancies in the system applicable to
white, coloured and black people" under existing law, the Committee did not go
further and inquire into the situation of women compared to that of men in specified
groups.

38. There are instances where Committee members have addressed the
situation of women per se in the reporting State rather than the situation of women of a
specified group.34

3. General recommendations

39. So far, the Committee has adopted 23 general recommendations.35
They address issues such as refugee and displaced persons, the rights of indigenous
peoples, training of law enforcement officials in the protection of human rights, the
situation on non-nationals, and paragraph 1 of article 1 (the Convention's definition of racial discrimination), all
of which are of considerable relevance for women and have clear gender dimensions. No
recommendation expressly refers to gender as a factor in the issue, or right, addressed.
General recommendation XVIII on the establishment of an international tribunal to
prosecute crimes against humanity, considered that such a tribunal with general
jurisdiction should be established to prosecute various crimes, including rape. In this
context, the general recommendation does not elaborate further the issue of sexual
violence against women, including rape.

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

40. No particular mechanism has been put in place by the Committee
to follow the work of the CEDAW Committee and to maintain liaison with it on issues of
common interest. Instead, the Committee uses the mechanism of the meeting of chairpersons
to consult with other committees in finding ways to increase the Committee's efficiency and effectiveness.36

5. Early warning procedure

41. While no comprehensive analysis of the Committee's review of country situations under the
early warning procedure has been conducted for the purposes of this study, a sample
analysis of this mechanism reveals that the Committee did not pursue gender-based
violations of rights suffered by women of ethnic groups in countries such as Rwanda,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

6. Next steps for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

42. The Committee has recognized in some cases that when
considering racial/ethnic discrimination, a range of factors including gender, should be
considered. The main task facing the Committee now is to apply this methodology in a more
consistent and systematic manner with regard to all provisions of the Convention. The
following is an indicative list of issues which the Committee may wish to consider:

(a) The extent to which remedies, such as compensation, are available
for the types of discrimination that women of the specified group suffer and the extent to
which these women are de facto able to access complaint mechanisms and remedies;

(b) The steps taken to ensure that women of the specified groups are
informed of their rights;

(c) The extent to which the legislative prohibitions of racial
discrimination as defined by the Convention are sensitive to gender-based acts of racial
discrimination;

(d) The extent to which investigatory mechanisms accord investigation
of racial discrimination against women equal priority as acts of racial discrimination
against men;

(e) Request that all data provided on racial/ethnic groups be
disaggregated by sex and evaluate disadvantages and obstacles that women of specified
groups encounter when compared to men of the same group;

(f) The understanding of access to public places (for example, in the
India report, access to "wells") and
denial of, or obstacles to, access by women of specified groups;

(g) Portrayal of women from specified groups: the extent to which women
from specified groups are constructed for purposes of anti-racial/ethnic propaganda and to
incite ethnic hatred (for example, the way Tutsi women were portrayed as evil temptresses
and spies during the genocide in Rwanda);

(h) Ethnic/gender-based violence against women, such as rape and sexual
violence perpetrated against women of an ethnic group, forced pregnancy, "ethnic cleansing", and the like;

(i) Traffic in women of specified groups;

(j) The situation of migrant women workers (as in the examples of
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates).

B. Committee against Torture

43. As with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel or Inhuman Treatment or
Punishment makes no reference on its face to its applicability without distinction on the
basis of sex. Again, as the Convention is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, its applicability to women and men is without doubt, and the Committee would thus
be justified in addressing the gender specific dimensions of the articles of the
Convention.

44. While it is obvious that not all violence against women constitutes
torture within the meaning of the Convention, there are a number of issues the Committee
could raise. In this regard, guidance can be obtained from the Platform for Action adopted
at Beijing. Two of the areas discussed in the Platform, violence against women and women
and armed conflict, contain provisions and recommendations that are pertinent to the
Convention and the Committee's work.

1. Follow-up to chairpersons' recommendations

45. Developments concerning the integration of a gender perspective
have been reported to the Committee, mainly by its Chairperson in follow-up to the meeting
of the chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies. However, the Committee has not yet
taken any specific action to implement various recommendations of the chairpersons. In its
recent sessions, the Committee has regularly used gender-inclusive language (references
are to "persons", "victims", "citizens").

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

46. A review of the Committee's work since late 1993, indicates that the major areas addressed by the
Committee in its concluding comments include: remedies for victims of torture including
compensation and rehabilitation; legislative provisions, including definitions of the
offences; specific methods of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
training for public officials and other relevant personnel; mechanisms to investigate,
prosecute and punish torture; conditions in police detention; treatment of asylum-
seekers; independence of the judiciary; fair trial and due process issues;
amnesty/impunity laws; discriminatory treatment of specified groups; complaints
mechanisms; cooperation with non-governmental organizations; monitoring mechanisms.

47. The Committee's consideration of the situation of women, or gender
issues, during its dialogue with States parties falls into the following broad categories:

(a) Rape and sexual offences;

(b) Segregation of male and female prisoners;

(c) Situation of pregnant women.

48. Most cases of torture or ill-treatment against women raised by the
Committee involve rape, sexual assault or some form of sexual humiliation.37
Some Committee members have expressed the view that rape constitutes torture, as in the
example of Mexico,38 where a member stated that rapes of arrested persons by
policemen constitute, by definition, acts of torture. One State party has been questioned
as to whether rape was viewed as an act of torture.39

49. During the Committee's thirteenth session, the segregation of
prisoners was raised with several reporting States.40 This issue did not
receive attention in subsequent sessions. The needs of women specific to their
reproductive function has also been raised,41 although the emphasis appeared to
have been on the well-being of the foetus.

50. The review indicates that, over a five-year period, during which
the situation in approximately 60 different States parties was examined, none of the
Committee's concluding comments made reference to the situation of women. This is
particularly noteworthy as Committee members have either asked specific questions or made
comments focusing on women or gender issues in approximately one fourth of the reports
considered.

3. General recommendations

51. The Committee does not adopt general recommendations.

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

52. At its twelfth session, the Committee designated one of its
members (Mrs. Iliopoulos-Strangas) to follow the activities of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women.42 At its sixteenth session, held
during April and May 1996, the Committee had before it the report of the Fourth World
Conference on Women as well as an informal note by the secretariat on the implications for
the Committee's methods of work of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and of
the recommendations concerning gender issues adopted by the persons chairing human rights
treaty bodies at their sixth meeting. The Committee took note of these documents and
agreed that Mrs. Iliopoulos-Strangas would continue to follow the activities of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.43 According to
the Committee's reports, no further information was provided by the designated member on
the activities of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. During
its twentieth session, the Committee decided that one of its members would act as thematic
rapporteur on issues relating to gender.44

5. The Committee's inquiry procedure

53. The Committee's two published reports under its article 20
(inquiry) procedure were reviewed.45 In the case of Turkey, the Committee
included a recommendation that women prisoners be transferred from a particular prison to
another. The body of the report, however, provides no further indication that gender-based
torture was an issue raised by the Committee. No reference to gender issues was made in
the report on Egypt.

6. Next steps for the Committee against Torture

54. Committee members have shown understanding of the fact that
women are subjected to gender-specific forms of torture and ill-treatment and have raised
pertinent gender issues during the constructive dialogue with States parties. So far, such
concerns have not been reflected in the Committee's concluding comments. However, since
the Committee's summary records are much less accessible and less widely distributed than
its concluding comments, the Committee's gender-specific concerns receive substantially
less visibility than other matters addressed by the Committee in its concluding comments.
There is now also ample evidence that women are frequently subjected to sexual violence,
including rape, in situations of conflict, especially armed conflict. Opportunities could
be sought to raise such violations not only during the dialogue, but also in the
concluding comments.

55. The Committee has the opportunity to expand the lines of inquiry on
gender-specific issues that fall within the scope of the Convention. The following is an
indicative list of issues which the Committee could pursue:

(a) The extent to which legislative prohibitions of torture cover
gender-based acts such as sexual violence, genital mutilation, scientific experimentation,
and so forth;

(b) The extent to which sensitivity to gender-specific acts of torture
has been incorporated into information, education and training of relevant officials
regarding the prohibition of torture and its impact on women;

(c) The extent to which investigatory mechanisms recognize the gravity
of acts of torture committed against women, especially those of a sexual nature, and
accord investigation of these acts equal priority to those committed against men;

(d) Non-refoulement for women, particularly the recognition of
gender-based persecution, as grounds for asylum;

(e) The extent to which women subjected to torture and ill-treatment
have effective access to complaint mechanisms and remedies, including gender-sensitive
rehabilitation and compensation;

(f) The steps taken to ensure that compensation is provided for the
dependents of (male) victims of torture, who are frequently women.

56. An area which has not yet been explored by the Committee, but which
would be especially pertinent from a gender perspective, is the question of the
responsibility of the State to prevent, and to take action in response to, acts carried
out by persons in their private capacity, and thus address directly a climate of impunity
for acts falling within the meaning of the Convention if committed by public officials in
their official capacity. So far, the Committee's attention, both during the dialogue and
in its concluding comments, is strictly directed at the actions of public officials.
Consequently, the violent treatment to which women are frequently subjected to in their
homes and their communities, such as harmful traditional practices, goes without comment.

C. Human Rights Committee

57. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
establishes in its article 2 that the rights recognized therein apply to individuals
without distinction on the basis of, inter alia, sex. This provision is reinforced
by article 3, which establishes the States parties' obligation to ensure the equal right
of women and men to the enjoyment of the rights contained in the Covenant. Article 26
guarantees all persons' equality before the law and equal protection of the law, without
distinction on the basis of, inter alia, sex. Articles 4, 6, 23 and 24 also contain
specific references to women, or sex-based non-discrimination.

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

58. The Committee amended its reporting guidelines in 1995. As a
result, States parties are now requested to include information on the factors affecting
the equal enjoyment of rights by women under each of the substantive articles of the
Covenant.46 The guidelines do not contain specific guidance on the manner in
which each article applies to women, nor a requirement for data disaggregated by sex. In
April 1997, the Committee held an exchange of views with the Special Adviser to the
Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women relating to furthering
cooperation between the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Committee.

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

59. In taking note of the various recommendations of the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action in 1995, the Committee stressed that the lists of
issues to be dealt with during the Committee's consideration of States parties' reports
should systematically include practical matters concerning equality of status and the
human rights of women.47

60. Since late 1993, including its sixty-first session in October
1997, the Human Rights Committee has reviewed the reports of some 60 States parties. The
analysis of the concluding comments shows that the Committee consistently refers to issues
affecting women's enjoyment of their human rights, often in considerable detail, and with
regard to various rights protected under the Covenant. With perhaps the exception of those
relating to the United Kingdom (then) dependent territory of Hong Kong on the transfer of
sovereignty to China and Azerbaijan, all concluding comments address the situation of
women in the reporting State.

61. The Committee's consideration of women's human rights and gender
issues falls within the following categories:

(a) Legal status of women, including constitutional guarantees of
equality, legislation on the equal status of women, reform of family codes, criminal law
and criminalization of women forced into prostitution;

(b) Equality before the law, including interpretation of laws, for
example, doctrine of provocation, complaint mechanisms;

(c) National machinery to promote women's equality;

(d) Violence against women, including domestic/family violence,
investigation of rape and sexual assault, punishment for perpetrators of rape or abduction
of women, rape in marriage, female genital mutilation, dowry and dowry-related violence,
suttee (self-immolation of widows), remedies for women victims of violence, rehabilitation
of women victims of sexual violence, provision of crisis centres/shelters for women;

(e) Enforcement of strict dress requirements for women in public places
and inhuman punishment for breach of these requirements;

(f) Discrimination against girls, including prenatal sex selection and
infanticide of females, preference for male children, and marriage age of girls;

(g) Gender stereotyping and traditions and customs impeding equality;

(h) Discrimination against women in employment, including equal
remuneration for equal work, employment opportunities, sexual harassment in the workplace,
regulation of wages for domestic work, women workers in free trade zones/export-processing
zones, discrimination against workers with family responsibilities;

(i) Discrimination in education, including illiteracy, and in access to
higher education;

(j) Health of women, including life expectancy, maternal mortality,
illegal abortion, criminalization of abortion without exception, availability of
contraception;

(k) Participation of women in public life, including voting;

(l) Family rights and responsibilities, including polygamy, forced
marriage, rights of young single mothers, application of customary laws in areas such as
personal status, marriage, divorce and inheritance, differences in punishment for adultery
for women and men;

(m) Enforcement of personal laws based on religion;

(n) Women in detention, including detention of women and men in the
same cells, imprisonment of women for offences resulting from unwanted pregnancies,
treatment of female detainees, rape of women in custody;

(o) Rights of women in the areas of family including divorce,
inheritance, property, departure from the country, acquisition of nationality, commercial
activities, enjoyment of civil and political rights;

(p) Trafficking in women, including assistance to trafficked women;

(q) Affirmative action;

(r) Poverty, including households headed by single women;

(s) Public education on equality of women and men;

(t) Data collection regarding the situation of women and men;

(u) Training of public officials.

62. The Committee's concluding comments address structural and systemic
gender issues that affect women's enjoyment of their human rights. Examples include the
Committee's identification, under "factors and difficulties impeding the application
of the Covenant", of traditional concepts of the different roles of the sexes,48
or the survival of certain traditions, customs and outdated laws, as an obstacle to
equality of women and men.49 Similar issues have been identified as principal
subjects of concern in many reporting States.50

63. While many issues are considered on a case-by-case basis,
regular attention is given to issues of inequality and discrimination in the areas of
employment including equal remuneration;51 access to public service and
participation in public affairs;52 family and marriage;53 and
violence against women including female genital mutilation and trafficking.54

64. Although the Committee's assessments in its concluding
comments are not usually linked to particular provisions of the International Covenant, on
occasion it has made important pronouncements in this regard. For example, in considering
the report of Peru, the Committee expressed its concern that abortion gave rise to a
criminal penalty even if a woman was pregnant as a result of rape and that clandestine
abortions were the main cause of maternal mortality. The Committee noted that "those
provisions not only mean that women are subject to inhumane treatment but are possibly
incompatible with articles 3, 6 and 7 of the Covenant". It consequently recommended
the revisions of the Civil and Penal Code, as Peru "must ensure that laws relating to
rape, sexual abuse and violence against women provide women with effective protection and
must take the necessary measures to ensure that women do not risk their life because of
the existence of restrictive legal provisions on abortion".55 In
considering Colombia's report, the Committee noted that violence against women remained a
major threat to their right to life and needed to be more effectively addressed. It also
was concerned at the high mortality rate of Colombian women resulting from clandestine
abortions, and recommended that priority be given to protecting women's right to life by
taking effective measures against violence against women and by ensuring access to safe
contraception.56

65. In other instances, the Committee has identified
discrimination against women in conjunction with laws which may restrict the right to
leave the country for spouses in the absence of the consent of the husband.57
While the Committee considered this (and other) provisions to be incompatible with
articles 3 (and 23) of the Covenant, it did not address the relationship of article 3 to
article 12 (freedom of movement).

3. General comments

66. So far, the Committee has adopted 26 general comments. General
comment 18 addresses non-discrimination, and reference to gender issues are included in
general comment 4 (on article 3), and 19 (on marriage and the family).

67. The Committee has acknowledged that more remains to be done in
order to reflect gender considerations in its concluding comments. One of the steps taken
in this regard is the Committee's decision to update its general comment on article 3,
concerning women's equal right to the enjoyment of all rights covered by the Covenant. At
the same time, the Committee's growing sensitivity to the impact of gender on the
enjoyment by women of their human rights remains to be reflected more systematically in
its general comments. Given the Committee's own experience and the simultaneous
elaboration by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of a
general comment on articles 7 and 8 (women in public life), the elaboration of general
comment 25 (on article 25, public life) provided such an opportunity. The Committee's
ongoing work on a general comment on article 12 could reflect gender issues raised by the
Committee in the past (Lebanon). Revision of past general comments could be considered in
order to reflect the Committee's pronouncements on, for example, women's right to life
(article 6) and freedom from torture (article 7).

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

68. The Committee has designated one of its members to follow, on a
regular basis, the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (currently Ms. Elizabeth Evatt), and to report thereon to the Human Rights
Committee. Information about the work of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women is also provided to the Human Rights Committee by its
secretariat.58

5. Next steps for the Human Rights Committee

69. The Committee regularly addresses many gender-specific concerns
in conjunction with the rights protected by the International Covenant. The Committee now
has the opportunity to explore factors that impact particularly on women's enjoyment of
human rights, including through action by private actors and where the State has a due
diligence obligation to ensure equal enjoyment of rights by women.

70. Some of the further issues the Committee could consider include the
following:

(a) The extent to which obstacles to the right to life include threats
that are particular to women, such as harmful traditional and customary practices or
threats stemming from women's reproductive function, such as reproductive health care,
along the lines of the concluding comments of Peru and Colombia;

(b) The extent to which sexual abuse, rape and violence against women
committed as acts of war or in armed conflict constitute torture and/or ill-treatment;

(c) The extent to which de facto restrictions are placed by family
members on women's exercise of freedom of movement-rights, either within the country, or
in terms of leaving the country; the impact of such restrictions on other rights, such as
rights provided for under article 25;

(d) Restrictions on women's rights in public life, including
requirements that women receive consent for political participation from husbands or male
relatives; harassment of politically active women;

(e) Persecution of women because of family relationships;

(f) Recognition of persecution on the basis of sexual abuse,
harassment, genital mutilation and other gender-based oppression;

(g) Respect for women's reproductive rights as a privacy issue;

(h) Relationship between freedom of religion and, in particular, the
right to manifest religious beliefs, and women's right to equality;

(i) Freedom of expression issues, including censorship imposed on women
writers or of materials and information on equality rights;

(j) Limits on the production and distribution of family planning
information and limitation, including by private actors, of women's access to such
information;

(k) Relationship between exercise of rights provided for under article
27, and women's right to equality.

71. In preparing the new general comment on article 3, the Committee
has the opportunity to link explicitly the obligation of article 3 with all the other
substantive provisions of the Covenant and thus to develop an understanding of every
provision of the Covenant that identifies issues of special relevance to women and which
are not yet receiving sufficient attention.

D. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

72. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights establishes, in its article 2, that the rights recognized therein apply to
individuals without discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sex. This provision
is reinforced by article 3, which establishes States parties' obligation to ensure the
equal right of women and men to the enjoyment of the rights contained in the Covenant.
Article 7 includes a guarantee of equal conditions of work for women, including equal pay
for equal work. Article 10 establishes that both parties to a marriage must freely consent
and establishes protection for working mothers, including paid maternity leave. Article 12
addresses the reduction of the stillbirth rate and infant mortality.

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

73. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights amended
its reporting guidelines in 1990. They contain repeated reference to the specific
situation of women in relation to the rights protected by the Covenant and call for the
provision of disaggregated data and information of the particular situation of women,
under relevant articles of the International Covenant, including under article 6
(employment and occupation), article 7 (remuneration and working conditions), article 9
(social security including maternity), article 10 (marriage), article 11 (adequate food
for particularly vulnerable groups of women), article 12 (infant mortality rate, life
expectancy, maternal health and maternal mortality) and article 13 (education). States
parties are encouraged to refer to and incorporate relevant sections of reports they have
submitted under any of the other human rights instruments, including the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In 1996, the Committee initiated a process
for the possible revision of its reporting guidelines in the light of the results of the
International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social
Development, and the Fourth World Conference on Women.59

74. The Committee submitted a statement to the Fourth World
Conference on Women on its own experience in monitoring women's enjoyment of the rights
protected by the Covenant and recommendations made to States parties.60 It was
also represented at the Conference by two of its members.

75. The Committee has expressed its willingness to identify the
gender-specific issues arising under each of the substantive articles of the Covenant. It
has noted that this may lead to the formulation of a general comment and eventually to the
revision of the Committee's reporting guidelines.61 (See also para. 83 below.)

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding observations

76. The Committee's attention to the enjoyment and protection of
the rights of women under the International Covenant is reflected in the formulation of
the lists of issues and in the oral questions raised during consideration of the reports
of States parties. A review of the Committee's work since late 1993 shows that the
Committee now regularly addresses women's rights and gender issues, often in some detail,
and with regard to various rights protected under the Covenant.

77. The Committee's consideration of the situation of women and gender
issues falls within the following categories:

(a) Equality legislation and its implementation, and lack thereof;

(b) Persistence of de jure and de facto discrimination, lack of
equality;

(c) Women's subordinate role in society and the persistence of customs
and traditions that impact on women's equal enjoyment of the rights protected by the
Covenant;

(d) Mechanisms to promote the equal status and equal rights of women
and men, such as councils, ombudsmens' organizations, commissions, and to investigate
allegations of discrimination;

(e) Women's inequality and discrimination against women in employment
and remuneration, including equal pay legislation and its (non-)implementation, pay and
wage gaps, equal pay for work of equal value, access to employment, working conditions,
representation in and access to higher professional positions, unemployment, exploitation
of female workers, sexual harassment, paid/unpaid maternity leave, freedom of movement;

(f) Education, including lack of education, access to education,
disparities between women and men in educational achievements, women's participation in
education and professional life, illiteracy;

(g) Social benefits, including social security, discrepancies in
pension benefits;

(h) De facto discrimination within family and marriage, including
arranged marriages, forced marriages, polygamy, age of marriage;

78. The Committee's concluding comments address structural and systemic
gender issues that affect women's enjoyment of their human rights. Among "factors
and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant", the Committee has
identified women's socio-economic situation rooted in traditional practices, and
discriminatory practices including those that result from long-standing cultural
prejudice.62 It has also identified women's subordinate role in society and
many forms of discrimination against women in legislation and in everyday life as
principal subjects of concern.63

79. While many issues are considered on a case-by-case basis,
regular attention is given to issues of inequality and discrimination with regard to the
right to equal treatment at work, including with regard to equal access to and
opportunities in work, equal remuneration and unemployment rates;64 the right
to education, including illiteracy rates, and educational achievement;65 and
violence against women, especially domestic violence, and harmful traditional practices.66

3. General comments

80. As at the end of the seventeenth session, in December 1997, the
Committee has adopted eight general comments, several of which analyse factors requiring
explicit attention from a gender perspective. In its general comment 4 on the right to
adequate housing, the Committee states:

"The right to adequate housing applies to everyone. While the
reference to "himself and his family' [in article 11(1) of the Covenant] reflects
assumptions as to gender roles and economic activity patterns commonly accepted in 1966
when the Covenant was adopted, the phrase cannot be read today as implying any limitations
upon the applicability of the right to individuals or to female-headed households or other
such groups. Thus, the concept of "family size" must be understood in a
wide sense. Further, individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing,
regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status and other such
factors. In particular, enjoyment of this right must, in accordance with article 2 (2) of
the Covenant, not be subject to any form of discrimination."67

81. While general comment 4 discusses aspects such as legal
security of tenure and availability of services, such as potable water, energy for
cooking, sanitation and washing facilities and food storage, all of which may be of
particular significance to women, the general comment does not elaborate on any particular
factors or concerns that arise in conjunction with women's enjoyment of various aspects of
the right to housing.

82. General comment 5 elaborates, inter alia, the relevance of
article 3 of the International Covenant for women with disabilities stating that:

"... persons with disabilities are sometimes treated as genderless
human beings, with the result that the double discrimination suffered by women with
disabilities is often neglected ...".68

83. The Committee is also in the process of elaborating a general
comment on ensuring gender equity [sic] in the implementation of economic, social
and cultural rights, and has designated two of its members to take the lead in preparing a
draft.69

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women

84. At its sixth session, the Committee designated one of its
members to follow the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women on a regular basis.

85. The Committee proceeds under specific conditions with the
consideration of the state of implementation of the Covenant in a State party in the
absence of a report. When applicable, the Committee has made extensive use of reports
which such States parties have submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women.70

5. Next steps for the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

86. The Committee regularly addresses many gender-specific concerns
in conjunction with the rights protected by the Covenant. In its statement to the Fourth
World Conference on Women, the Committee noted that the Covenant "constitutes an
indispensable element in any comprehensive framework for the promotion and protection of
the rights of women".71

87. In addition to issues already addressed, the Committee could
consider examining the following:

(a) The extent to which the Committee's and States parties' current
understanding and interpretation of the rights protected by the International Covenant
covers, or might fail to cover, women's experiences. For example, the extent to which the
understanding of the right to work and the rights at work linked to it, cover many forms
of remunerated and unremunerated work predominantly performed by women in the formal and
informal sector (work in family enterprises, agricultural and subsistence work, sex work,
etc.);

(b) Obstacles to women's full enjoyment of the right to work, such as
sexual harassment, child care needs, family and caring responsibilities;

(c) The extent to which social security and social assistance rights
are responsive to women's forms of work, and explicitly take into consideration women's
greater vulnerability to loss of employment and interrupted employment, health issues of
women and other family members, loss of family members who provide monetary support to the
family;

(d) The extent to which women's marital status affects their de facto
access to work and opportunities at work, including women's child-bearing function;

(e) The extent to which various forms of violence against women,
including domestic violence and sexual harassment, impact on women's ability to enjoy the
rights provided for in the International Covenant, such as their right freely to choose or
accept gainful employment, or the right to adequate housing.

88. In preparing a new general comment on article 3, the Committee has
the opportunity to explicitly link the obligation of article 3 with all the other
substantive provisions of the Covenant, and thus to develop an understanding of every
provision of the Covenant that identifies issues of special relevance to women and which
may not have been given sufficient attention.

E. Committee on the Rights of the Child

89. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, is
the only one of the major international human rights instruments currently in force that
consistently uses both masculine and feminine pronouns throughout and makes it explicit
that the rights apply equally to female and male children. The Convention also confers
certain benefits upon women where they are integral to the enjoyment of rights by
children, such as in article 24, which obliges States parties to take all appropriate
measures to provide pre- and post-natal care for expectant mothers, education relating, inter
alia, to the advantages of breastfeeding and family planning education and services.
Furthermore, article 18 of the Convention recognizes the upbringing of children as a
common responsibility of both parents.

1. Follow-up to the chairpersons' recommendations

90. The comprehensive reporting guidelines of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child include sex as one of the grounds wherever a request is made for
disaggregated data. They also contain an umbrella clause requesting States parties to
provide information disaggregated by sex on the situation of particular groups of children
and in relation to a number of articles. Its guidelines for periodic reports also request
information on measures taken to eliminate discrimination against the girl child, in
follow-up to the Beijing Platform for Action. The guidelines do not, however, contain a
general request for data disaggregated by sex for all provisions of the Convention, or
systematically ask for such information in conjunction with all articles. They also do not
identify situations where girl children may be subject to particular forms of violations
of rights.

2. Constructive dialogue and concluding comments

91. The Committee has incorporated gender concerns in its dialogue
with States parties since its first session in 1991. The lists of issues and the oral
questions raised during consideration of States parties' reports increasingly reflect a
gender perspective.

92. The following issues of particular relevance to the girl child have
been addressed by the Committee:

(a) Legal and de facto equality of girls and measures taken to ensure
equal rights to girls;

93. While the Committee addresses a variety of issues on a case-by-case
basis, the issues most commonly addressed are girls' early marriage age; early/teenage
pregnancy; the low status of girls in society; adverse health practices; sexual abuse and
exploitation; educational opportunities for girls; and family planning education and
services.

3. General comments

94. The Committee does not adopt general comments or
recommendations. Instead, it holds regular "general discussion days", during
which thematic issues are considered. The situation of the girl child has been considered
in a number of different contexts, including economic exploitation and the family. The
Committee also devoted its general discussion day at its eighth session (1995) to the
topic of the girl child as part of the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on
Women.72 In 1997, the Committee held general discussions on traditional
practices detrimental to the health of women and children, in particular female genital
mutilation, and on traditional attitudes and stereotypes and the special situation of, inter
alia, the girl child, child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation and refugee
children.

4. Interaction with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

95. The Committee has designated one of its members to follow on a
regular basis the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women. In November 1996, a first joint meeting took place in Cairo between members of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women to discuss working methods and the development of concrete
social indicators on child rights and women's rights. A workshop to examine ways to
coordinate action to promote the two conventions was also held. The United Nations
Children's Fund has convened several meetings to address issues of common interest in the
framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.73

5. Next steps for the Committee on the Rights of the Child

96. Some of the further issues the Committee could consider include
the following:

(a) Reproductive rights of girls, including access to family planning
and contraception, and information thereon;

(e) The situation of working girls, including conditions of work,
forced labour/slavery, protection from exploitation and sex work.

IV. Conclusions

97. The review of the work of the five mainstream treaty
bodies in the five years since the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action indicates that attention to the situation of women in the framework of guarantees
of equal enjoyment of rights and of non-discrimination is being broadly achieved, and thus
the mandate of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is being implemented to some
extent. This is exemplified in areas such as discrimination against women in education or
employment, or women's rights in marriage and the family. There is also growing attention
to situations that are specific to women, in particular violence against women in its many
manifestations. However, the impact of these specific situations of women on the enjoyment
of other rights protected under the same instrument (e.g., freedom of movement, or
work-related rights) remain to be further developed.

98. Awareness of the gendered nature of human rights is developing (for
example in elaborating gender factors of the right to life, or identification of certain
measures that lead to discrimination against a specified group of women), but there is not
yet a clear acknowledgement or understanding that gender is an important dimension in
defining the substantive nature of rights. This remains particularly so in a context where
an explicit non-discrimination guarantee is absent, such as in the conceptualization of
torture or of gender aspects in racial discrimination. Even where non-discrimination
guarantees of human rights are monitored, the gendered nature of the rights themselves
remain largely to be explored (for example with regard to defining the right to
work", ", an "adequate standard of living, "freedom of movement",
or "freedom of expression"). Human rights treaty bodies can make a major
contribution in this regard through their constructive dialogue with States parties to
assess compliance with treaty obligations and through the interpretation of human rights
norms in general comments/recommendations and jurisprudence on the basis of individual
complaints.

99. States parties' obligations to prevent and redress violations of
women's rights by private persons, such as husbands or employers, also need to be further
clarified and expanded. Women's different life experiences, both in private and in public
life, such as in employment, education or political life, need to be assessed more
explicitly to identify obstacles to the enjoyment of rights. In this regard, treaty bodies
have an opportunity to bring greater clarity to States parties' obligations to respect,
protect and promote and fulfil human rights for all.

100. There is also a need to strengthen the understanding of women's
enjoyment of rights in the context and within the scope of particular treaties. While the
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention against Torture
or Other Cruel or Inhuman Treatment or Punishment may have apparent limitations in this
regard as they do not refer specifically to their application without distinction on the
basis of sex, they, like the other treaties, are grounded in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. In this regard, rather than assessing the situation of women per se and
focusing on women-specific issues, treaty bodies have the opportunity to assess enjoyment
of rights and of factors and difficulties impeding implementation of rights for women and
men, respectively, within the scope of a particular treaty. For example, an assessment of
the overall situation of women in a reporting State under the Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination arguably goes beyond the scope of the Convention, but
assessing factors that might constitute additional obstacles to women of a specified
racial group and not encountered by women of another group would be within the Committee's
responsibilities. A particular study of the intersection of race and gender could assist
in clarifying these factors.

101. In their reporting guidelines, general comments and concluding
observations/comments, several treaty bodies require that data and information be
disaggregated by sex. Such information can greatly facilitate a prima facie assessment of
the position of women and men with regard to particular rights or issues and thus give an
initial indication of difference and potential disadvantage. While remedying the lack of
such data is primarily a responsibility of States parties, the explicit request for such
data and related analysis by the Committees, may provide an incentive for Governments to
provide such information in a more systematic manner.

V. Recommendations for further action

102. The human rights treaty bodies have specific functions
within the overall human rights activities of the United Nations. Strategies for further
strengthening gender mainstreaming need to take these into account, including in terms of
accountability. Progress requires action in several different areas. The following
recommendations are addressed primarily to the treaty bodies themselves, but also to
States parties, the Committee secretariats, entities of the United Nations system and
non-governmental organizations.

103. The explicit commitment of the Committees to contributing to the
achievement of gender equality is a first prerequisite, and is expressed in actions
already taken by most of the treaty bodies in follow-up to the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the recommendations of the
chairpersons. To different degrees, such steps and measures remain of an ad hoc nature and
indicate that there are differing views within and among the Committees of the
appropriateness of such actions. There remains a need for ongoing discussion by the treaty
bodies on the relevance of gender in international human rights law so that efforts can be
systematized and gender mainstreaming can proceed in a predictable and sustained manner.

104. It is recommended that treaty bodies review actions already taken
with regard to the amendment of reporting guidelines, the preparation of lists of issues
and of concluding comments/observations, to ensure that explicit attention is paid, in a
systematic manner, to gender dimensions in the consideration of the reports of States
parties. Treaty bodies could also adopt explicit decisions on mainstreaming and identify
specific gender-related facts to guide their work, for example in their general
comments/recommendations.

105. In requesting data and information disaggregated by sex, and
specific information with regard to the situation of women in reporting guidelines, lists
of issues and during oral questioning it is recommended that this be not limited to
separate, women-specific sections or presented primarily in conjunction with women's
reproductive functions or responsibilities for children. Rather, a mainstreaming approach
requires that particular rights, and measures taken for their implementation be assessed
with regard to women's and men's ability to benefit from these rights and the particular
measures taken for their implementation. Interaction with States parties concerning such
information in the lists of issues and in the oral questions should be pursued in a more
systematic manner.

106. The language used by Committees is also relevant. Consistent use
of masculine pronouns or of situations primarily experienced by men suggests lack of
concern for women's enjoyment of human rights.

107. Drawing explicit linkages between incompatibility of certain
actions or denial of rights for women and rights in specific treaties is essential to
clarify the meaning of human rights from a gender perspective. To conceptualize, for
example, a certain law or practice as a violation of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights under article 12 (freedom of movement) from a gender perspective
rather than as a non-fulfilment of article 3 allows for recognition of systemic
disadvantage encountered by women regarding that particular right. This goes beyond an
assessment of the equal enjoyment guarantee of article 3. In other words, article 3
assessments alone will not necessarily reveal, from a substantive point of view, the
gendered meaning and obligations of article 12. In this regard, the work of the Human
Rights Committee in conjunction with women's rights under articles 6 and 7 sets an example
that could be expanded to other articles of the Covenant and widely considered by all
treaty bodies.

108. In addition to the efforts of the Committees to elaborate general
comments/recommendations or conduct general discussions on specific articles or issues of
particular relevance to women and the girl child, the Committees should also address
gender factors and issues arising in conjunction with other rights. The formulation of
general comments on common article 3 of the two International Covenants offers the
opportunity for a comprehensive elaboration of the meaning of this article in conjunction
with all other substantive articles of the Covenants. The ongoing work of treaty bodies in
preparing and/or updating general comments/recommendations also offers opportunities to
incorporate new insights on the impact of gender on the interpretation of all the other
substantive articles of the treaties and their implementation. The recent work of some of
the Committees suggests that a revisiting of past general comments/recommendations (for
example of general comment 6 on article 6, or 20 on article 7 by the Human Rights
Committee) would be timely.

109. Treaty bodies could consider whether mechanisms such as early
warning procedures and inquiry mechanisms might provide further opportunities for
reviewing situations characterized by serious gender-based violations of rights. For
example, human rights mechanisms, including special rapporteurs, reported on gender-based
violations of the rights of women belonging to certain ethnic and/or religious groups at
various stages of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. This, or similar occurrences,
might provide opportunities for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
to monitor gender-specific violations under its early warning mechanism.

110. The establishment of joint working groups, or cooperation among
Committee members designated to prepare drafts for general comments/recommendations with
members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women could be
pursued. In conjunction, the parallel drafting of general comments/recommendations on
articles 7 and 8 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and
article 25 by the Human Rights Committee, and ongoing work on article 12 by the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and article 12 by the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, offered opportunities for increasing such
cooperation. General awareness about ongoing work on general comments/recommendations
should therefore be increased. When scheduling days of general discussion, Committees
could encourage the participation of persons/organizations having particular expertise on
the gender dimensions of the topic. Meetings of members from all treaty bodies on
particular rights, such as the round table on "Human Rights Approaches to Women's
Health" (para. 11 above) could be replicated.

111. Treaty bodies have strengthened their cooperation with
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and increased opportunities to submit
gender-specific information relating to States parties' reports. While women-specific NGOs
have in recent years increased their input to the work of some of the treaty bodies, and
thus contributed to their ability to focus on gender factors, this has not been done in
the same, sustained way with all the treaty bodies. Efforts are therefore needed on the
part of women-specific NGOs to provide such gender-specific input to the work of all
treaty bodies. Efforts are also needed to improve awareness on the part of NGOs working in
the field of human rights, some of whom have recently begun to develop an interest in
women's human rights, about the relevance of gender issues in their work.

112. In order to strengthen the knowledge base about the impact of
gender on the conceptualization and implementation of human rights, treaty bodies could
call on their secretariats to commission, and on NGOs and the academic community to
undertake, studies that would contribute to the clarification of the gender dimensions of
rights. Such studies might, for example, explore the intersection of race and gender in
the context of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

113. Cooperation between the five mainstream treaty bodies and the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the one hand, and the
women-specific treaty body and the Division for the Advancement of Women, on the other, is
important. To that end, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, in collaboration with the Division for the Advancement of Women, should, in a more
systematic manner, bring to the attention of treaty bodies the results of the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Information on the practices of
mainstream human rights treaty bodies, as well as their concluding comments, is regularly
provided to the Committee by its secretariat. The converse should also be done. The lists
of issues for reporting States should also be exchanged. Briefings could be organized on a
regular basis for new members of Committees on gender issues and on relevant work done
elsewhere in the United Nations system. Channels of communication should be established
between members of the mainstream treaty bodies designated to follow the work of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and its secretariat to
facilitate the regular provision of information to them. The names of designated members
should be communicated to the relevant secretariat.

114. Efforts should be undertaken to improve normative consistency
among the treaty bodies in concluding comments and general comments/recommendations.
Pending the completion of readily accessible databases on the jurisprudence of all of the
treaty bodies, the secretariats of the treaty bodies should provide pertinent background
information. The appointment of Committee members to follow the work of other treaty
bodies and to provide regular briefs thereon could also be pursued to facilitate
achievement of this goal.

115. Proposals that treaty bodies, in cooperation with each other,
prepare reporting guidelines for each of the instruments indicating what material prepared
for the purpose of one instrument might satisfy the requirements for information under
particular articles of another instrument should be pursued. Building on the core
documents that are already being prepared by many States parties, this could lead to the
preparation of "modules of information" for inclusion in reports to each
relevant treaty body.

116. Entities of the United Nations system should build on the current
practice of submitting information to treaty bodies and submit gender-specific information
within the scope of the respective treaty.

117. States parties should provide information disaggregated by sex to
all treaty bodies and should prepare their reports in a gender-sensitive way, ensuring
that the factors women encounter in the enjoyment of rights are made explicit.74
Information submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
should be adapted more systematically and submitted to other treaty bodies under relevant
articles.

Notes

1 A/52/507, para. 62.

2A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III, sect. II.B, para. 42.

3See Commission on the Status of Women resolution 38/2 of March 1994,
recommending that the chairpersons consider the issue of mainstreaming women's human
rights on a regular basis.

4 A/52/507. The reports of the chairpersons since their fifth meeting are
contained in documents A/49/537, A/50/505, A/51/482, A/52/507 and A/53/125.

8The definition reads: "Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the
process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for
making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all
political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and
inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality".

9 Agreed conclusions 1997/2 were subsequently endorsed by the General
Assembly in resolution 52/100.

10While several United Nations human rights mechanisms use the term
"integration of gender perspectives", the term commonly used by all other United
Nations entities is "mainstreaming a gender perspective", or "gender
mainstreaming" (see, for example, the Platform for Action, ECOSOC agreed conclusions
1997/2 and General Assembly resolution 52/100; the report of the Secretary-General
contained in A/51/322, paras. 715, discusses the concept and implications of
"mainstreaming a gender perspective "). In both instances, it is a conceptual
approach to achieving the goal of gender equality.

11 E/1998/84, para. 18.

12 Report of the expert group meeting on the development of guidelines for
the integration of gender perspectives into human rights activities and programmes,
E/CN.4/1996/105.

13 The summary of proceedings and recommendations of the round table has
been published by the United Nations Population Fund. It is also available on the Fund's
Web site (http://www.unfpa.org).

14 The United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children's
Fund and the United Nations Population Fund have developed policies to increase attention
to human rights in their work.

15 Statements were made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the Executive
Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, the Special Adviser to the
Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and a representative of the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

16 The meeting will be attended by members of the Inter-Agency Committee on
Women and Gender Equality and by members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development Development Assistance Committee Working Party on Gender Equality. The
Commission on the Status of Women, in its agreed conclusions on "Human Rights of
Women", supported the convening of this workshop. See Official Records of the
Economic and Social Council, 1998, Supplement No. 7 (E/1998/27), chap. I.B., draft
resolution IV, sect. III.C.

17 A/44/668, A/CONF.157/PC/62/Add.11/Rev.1, E/CN.4/1997/74.

18 The ninth (extraordinary) meeting of the chairpersons was convened as a
three-day meeting to pursue the reform process aimed at improving the effective
implementation of international instruments on human rights. The report of the meeting is
contained in A/53/125.

19 In its own discussions regarding the restructuring and revitalization of
the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields and the integrated and
coordinated implementation and follow-up of major United Nations conferences and summits,
the Economic and Social Council has increased its attention to gender issues and to the
mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all policies and programmes. See, for example,
ECOSOC resolutions 1998/46 and E/1998/44.

20 This section draws largely from the report of the Secretary-General on
the thematic issues before the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-second
session, E/CN.6/1998/5, paras. 91-93, and the report of the expert group meeting
"Promoting women 's enjoyment of their economic and social rights", convened by
the Division for the Advancement of Women from 1-4 December 1997. The report,
EGM/WESR/1997/Report, is available from the DAW Web site
(http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw). The Secretary-General's report on "Women's real
enjoyment of their human rights, in particular those relating to the elimination of
poverty, economic development and economic resources" (E/CN.6/1998/11-E/CN.4/1998/22)
also discusses how women's gender roles impact on their ability to access rights,
resources and opportunities, and treatment on an equal basis (see especially paras.
19-23).

21 See A/51/322, paras. 7-14. Gender, gender roles and relations are
discussed, inter alia, in 1994 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development,
pp. 1-4. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.IV.1.

22 A/CONF.157/PC/62/Add.11/Rev.1, paras. 156-163.

23 ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2 emphasize the continuing relevance of a
dual strategy for achieving gender equality. On the relevance of gender in international
human rights law and practice see Andrew Byrnes, Women, Feminism and International
Human Rights Law -C Methodological Myopia, Fundamental Flaws or Meaningful
Marginalization?, The Australian Yearbook of International Law, vol. 12, 1992.

24 There is now an extensive body of writing available on gender
mainstreaming. The Division for the Advancement of Women has prepared an annotated
bibliography on gender mainstreaming including in the area of human rights, available on
its Web site (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw). See also: -"Gender mainstreaming:
conceptual framework, methodology and presentation of good practices. Final report of
activities of the Group of Specialists on Mainstreaming-", Council of Europe,
Strasbourg, May 1998 (http://www.dhdirhr.coe.fr); and a paper presented by Dr. Christopher
McCrudden, University of Oxford, at the International Conference on Comparative
Non-Discrimination Law, 22-24 June 1998, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

25 The following documentation formed the basis of the analysis: summary
records of the treaty bodies-' consideration of States parties reports since mid-1993 as
available; a complete set of concluding comments issued by treaty bodies between mid-1993
and the end of 1997, contained in the Committees-' annual reports; annual reports of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: A/48/18 (starting from the
Committee-'s forty-third session in August 1993), A/49/18, A/50/18, A/51/18, A/52/18;
annual reports of the Committee against Torture: A/49/44, A/50/44, A/51/44, A/52/44;
annual reports of the Human Rights Committee: A/49/40, vol. I, A/50/40, vol. I, A/51/40,
vol. I, A/52/40, vol. I, and concluding comments from 61st session (October 1997); annual
reports of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: E/1994/23 (starting from
the Committee's ninth session), E/1995/22, E/1996/22, E/1997/22, E/1998/22. Annual reports
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: A/49/41 (starting from the Committee's fourth
session in October 1993), A/51/41, and the concluding comments from the Committee's
twelfth to sixteenth sessions from July 1996 to October 1997.

26 See CERD/C/SR.1166, paras. 40 to 56 for various views expressed (14
August 1996).

27 While the Platform for Action uses the term "gender-disaggregated
data", the term "data disaggregated by sex " is the demographically correct
terminology.

28 During the period under review, the Committee adopted approximately 110
concluding observations. Approximately 25 of those are of a largely procedural nature
dealing with the non-submission of reports, the deferral of consideration of reports or
the non-participation of representatives of States parties in the dialogue.

58 Ibid., para. 17, stating that "At each of the Committee's sessions,
the Representative of the Secretary-General informed the Committee about activities
carried on by United Nations bodies dealing with human rights issues ... results of the
... sessions of the CEDAW Committee ... were presented to the Committee".

59 The Committee's report at its 16th and 17th sessions (E/1998/22, para.
523) noted that it would return to this issue at its 18th session (April 1998).
Information currently available does not reveal what action was taken.

70 This was the case when the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights considered the state of implementation of the Covenant in Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, making use of the report that that State party had submitted to the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (E/1998/22, paras. 409 to 437).